


Strong

by DoreyG



Category: Giri/Haji (TV)
Genre: Bonding, First Meeting, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/pseuds/DoreyG
Summary: “Sarah?”“Oh!” She was expecting this conversation, admittedly, but she wasn’t expecting it to happen to her so soon. She flails up from her chair, almost upsetting the cup of coffee by her elbow, and narrowly stops before she goes tits over arse and makes an utter fool of herself. “Sorry, sorry! Rei, isn’t it?”
Relationships: Mentioned Sarah Weitzmann/Kenzo Mori
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2
Collections: Trick or Treat Exchange 2020





	Strong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashling/gifts).



“Sarah?”

“Oh!” She was expecting this conversation, admittedly, but she wasn’t expecting it to happen to her so soon. She flails up from her chair, almost upsetting the cup of coffee by her elbow, and narrowly stops before she goes tits over arse and makes an utter fool of herself. “Sorry, sorry! Rei, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” The woman standing in front of her gives a small smile, and slides into the chair across from her neatly. She’s so put together, it makes her feel worse by comparison… Which is saying something, since she already feels bad enough considering that she’s fucked this woman’s estranged husband. “At least, I don’t think it has changed since you met me at the airport.”

“Oh!” She blushes bright red, flails a little more until she just about manages to gather herself. “Um, sorry. I was just a bit distracted. How’s Taki?”

“Well, thank you.” Rei inclines her head gracefully. “We had a good talk, and she explained everything. She’s sleeping now, or texting the girlfriend that she doesn’t think I know about. It didn’t seem entirely polite to ask, not after all this time.”

“No. No, I can see how it wouldn’t be.” She swallows, remembers that she has coffee in the next moment and snatches it up with a certain sense of relief. “So, uh… You’re fully up to date, then?”

“Yes.”

“With…” She desperately doesn’t want to ask, wants to bury her head in the sand like some sort of coward and wait it out. But if there’s anything this entire messy situation has taught her, it’s that she’s still capable of being brave. “Uh, everything?”

“Yes. I have heard about the mobsters, the gun fights, the numerous people who got shot, the fact that my daughter almost jumped off a building and exactly why my- exactly why Kenzo is now in a British jail awaiting either extradition or permanent imprisonment on kidnapping charges.” Rei pauses for a second, purses her lips thoughtfully. “I should also say that I have heard, in detail, about the connection you have with Kenzo. And should say, before you start worrying about it, that I don’t mind.”

She almost spits out what remains of her coffee, sets it carefully back on the table with shaky hands. “You know, I would’ve really thought that you’d mind just a little.”

“Taki thought that too.” Rei looks like she’s considering a shrug for a moment, and instead just taps her fingers on the table. She’s a very restrained woman, she finds herself envying that just slightly. “But the fact of the matter is… Kenzo and I were on separate paths long before he ever came to London. I will always care for him, and he will always be in my life in some way, but I cannot begrudge him trying to find happiness somewhere else. Not when I have finally managed to seize some of it for myself.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” she blurts, and then feels herself go bright scarlet again. “I mean, uh. I obviously like him well enough, but-”

“Thank you,” Rei says, and laughs. It sounds somewhat rusty, as if she hasn’t done it very much before, but is undoubtedly joyous. “For what it is worth, after all that I’ve heard from Taki I feel much the same way about you.”

“Aw, shucks,” she’s never said those words before in her life, blushes slightly as she hears them come from her mouth, but they seem appropriate for the situation. “You can’t be serious, though. Not after everything I’ve been involved in.”

“I am perfectly serious,” Rei says, incredibly calmly considering the direction of their conversation. “After all the things that you’ve done for strangers, the numerous kindnesses you’ve shown, the many people you’ve looked after when you could’ve so easily turned your back… Of course I feel the same way. Kenzo is a nice enough man, underneath it all, but he certainly doesn’t seem to deserve a person as special as you.”

She knows that she’s probably bright crimson right about now, but just can’t help it. She’s never been able to take compliments gracefully, and to have them handed to her in such a matter of fact way. “I… Thank you, but I’m really not that good.”

Rei continues to study her calmly, not exactly seeming put out by her denial. “No?”

“No,” she says very firmly, because if there’s one thing she can be firm about it’s how little she deserves compliments. And doesn’t that say a lot of rather unflattering things about her. “I was just finally listening to my gut again, for the first time in what feels like years.”

“Yes, but it takes a lot of courage to do that,” Rei points out, with a calm arch of her eyebrow that seems almost amused. “I should know, given that I spent several years determinedly ignoring my own gut. It takes a lot to do what is actually right, instead of what the rest of the world pressures you to do. Any person that does that, I have learned, is incredibly strong. Especially you.”

“Oh! Um, um…” Maybe she should keep listening to her gut, even now that all the shooting has stopped. Maybe she should stop beating herself up, over every little thing. Maybe she should accept the words of the woman sitting across from her, and accept the friendship tentatively offered alongside them. “You know what, thank you. I think you’re incredibly strong too.”

They smile at each other from across the table, both a little rusty at it but also - she hopes, no, _knows_ \- both a little pleased at their daring. She’s gotten far too used to shoving people away, while desperately wanting them closer. Maybe if there’s anything she should learn from this entire situation, it’s that she doesn’t have to do that anymore if she doesn’t want to.

“You know,” she says, before she can think better of it and lapse into flailing silence yet again. “I think this might be the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“I think that is a quote from a movie I have never seen,” Rei says carefully, but smiles at her kindly before she can go right back to flailing. “It is no matter, though, I am pretty sure that I can figure the sentiment out. Perhaps it’s even a new experience I can have, now that I’m listening to my own gut and actually trying new things.”

She smiles herself, grateful. It turns out that if somebody else starts being brave, it’s so much easier to join them. “Perhaps I can help you with a few of them.”

“That’d be nice,” Rei says, genuinely warm. And, when she’s still smiling into space happily, leans forward and fixes her with an impressively determined glance. “Now, what exactly were you distracted by when I found you?”

“Um, you probably won’t actually be that interested, but…” She hesitates for a second, and then gives in to the inevitable and slides her phone across the table so Rei can see the picture on screen. “Taki has probably told you about a guy named Rodney? Nice man, has a lot of issues. He recently- Well, did something bad about covers it. I blew up at him about it, he ran off and I haven’t seen him since. I’m still a bit mad at him, I guess, but I just want to make sure that he’s alright.”

“You want to find him,” Rei cuts right to the heart of the issue, picking up her phone and studying the last picture of Rodney she has with narrowed eyes. “Would it be possible for me to help?”

She blinks, gives Rei a tentative frown. “I wouldn’t want to presume.”

“And neither would I,” Rei says politely, returning her phone. “But as it so happens, I have recently acquired certain skills around tracking people. Especially people who are not particularly easy to find. Taki has also told me about this Rodney man, and has said how much he helped her when she was new to London. It would be my pleasure to help.”

“Well, if that’s the case…” This probably isn’t a great idea, but then she’s indulged in a fair few of those lately and most of them haven’t gone terribly. She hesitates for a second, and extends a hand across the table. “To new and productive friendships, then!”

Rei stares at her hand for a long moment, long enough that she starts to wonder just how often they shake hands in Japan, and then smiles just as she starts to panic and extends her hand too. The woman’s handshake is firm, more professional than a lot of men she’s encountered. “To new friendships, and new lives.”

They smile at each other from across the table again. And, for perhaps the first time in years, she feels like everything is going to be okay.


End file.
